Sultan Reeds Bird Sanctuary is very special and important because it is located on two bird migration routes between Africa, Asia and Europe, converging on Turkey, and hosts more than 300 bird species.
Being a geography expert, photography and film artist, as well as a tourism agency and bird watching and bird photography consultant for special interest tourism areas, Nuri Chorbacioglu is one of the important factors in Sultan Reeds.
Nuri Chorbacioglu, who has the necessary knowledge and equipment about Sultan Reeds and its region, bird watching and bird photography, is one of the sources that can get any help needed.
Sultan Reeds are located on the slopes of Erciyes Mountain in the Develi-Yeşilhisar-Yahyalı triangle, 70 km south of Kayseri. Most of the reeds, which are in the form of a large freshwater marsh, are covered with reeds.
Sultan Reeds, with an area of 17,200 hectares, consists of two world-famous ecosystems. There are reed islets that float very slowly towards the center of the reed.
Sultan Reeds are generally divided into two ecosystems as Yaygölü (salty) and Reeds (sweet). There are Eğrigöl, Sarpgöl and Camızgöl islets in it.
The area forming the Sultan Reeds narrows in dry seasons and expands in rainy seasons. These lakes are fed by the waters of Erciyes and Central Taurus Mountains.
Sultan Reeds were discovered in the research conducted by İsmet Özer. It was declared a Waterfowl Protection and Breeding Area in 1971, a Nature Protection Area in 1988, and a First Degree Natural Protected Area in 1993.
The lake area started to form in the Miocene period, and limestone, basalt, andesite and tuff layers began to form by filling with erosion in the Pleistocene and Helocene periods.
The average annual precipitation is more than 350 mm per square meter. Sultan Reeds, one of Turkey's most important wetlands, is an indispensable wetland for birds, with its salt lake, Seyfe Lake and Ereğli reed basins, temperate climatic conditions, and close proximity to the Mediterranean coast and wetlands.
Sultan Reeds are one of the most precious wetlands of Turkey, Europe and the Middle East, with two different aquatic ecosystems as fresh and salty, large reeds and swamp areas, meadows, pastures and steppes, rich nutrients with different habitats, water birds and wildlife it hosts.
Sultan Reeds, which has a nutrient-rich freshwater ecosystem with dense reeds and vegetation, has a freshwater ecosystem and an ecologically related saltwater ecosystem together. It is an excellent environment for feeding, sheltering, accommodation and incubation of many different types of birds with different ecological needs.
Out of more than 300 bird species detected in the region, 70 of them constantly, 18 species sometimes overwinter here, and about 120 species of birds migrate and incubate.
Sultan Reeds is not only one of the important breeding areas of endangered species in Turkey such as pygmy cormorant, oxyura leucocephala ve marbled teal, but also the incubation basin for some other animal species including squacco heron, spoonbill, plegadis falcinellus, gadwall, avoget, red crested pochard, ferruginous duck, kentis plover, greater sand plover, collared pratincole, vanellus spinosus, gull-billed tern, little tern, whiskered tern, kingfisher, little bittern, greyleg goose, green winged teal, mallard, garganey, pochrad, tufted duck, wild goose, common tern, sand grouse, vanellus leucurus, larus ridibundus, laurus genei and black winged stilt.
Sultan Reeds, where flamingos breed irregularly on the islands in Yay Lake, the gathering period of some bird communities that reach large numbers during the migration season approaches 600,000 in September and October. Along with the birds that spend the winter here, the number of birds, which generally increases in spring and autumn, decreases in February, July and August.
Described as an open-air laboratory that magnificently exhibits wetlands and the complex relationships in its 2 different ecosystems, Sultan Reeds are visited by many scientists, researchers, bird watchers and bird photographers.
Sultan Reeds provide a fertile habitat for the feeding of animals until the end of summer by creating constant moisture together with stable ground water in the region where the arid climate is experienced in general.
In the Sultan Reeds basin, the steppe formed by sparse plants, and the Çöl Lake and the vicinity of the Yay Lake and the Örtülüakar Reeds are densely populated with swamp plants. Steppe plants are short-lived, fresh and salt water ecosystems, meadows, pastures, agricultural areas, steppes and ecologically diverse habitats constitute a rich habitat.
Small lakes with fresh water, rich in nutrients, covered with dense reeds in Sultan Reeds, are ideal for feeding and sheltering water birds.
Frog and salamander larvae and small fish are also abundant in freshwater lakes. Since the reeds are long and dense, birds such as pelicans, cormorants, water fowl, ducks, geese, herons, spoonbills easily find the place and material they will use in nest construction.
Yay Lake, which is a saltwater habitat, is the incubation area of flamingos, seagulls, sword beaks and some woodcocks. Plovers, cranes and pelicans brood in areas in the transition zone of the habitat.
During the field studies, 65 genera and 177 species belonging to 47 families were identified.
Sultan Reeds are the second most important bird sanctuary in Turkey, after Lake Manyas, with more than 300 bird species that it embraces and hosts.
Sultan Reeds have been the intersection point of two great migration routes of migratory birds between Africa and Europe, which contain two different ecosystems for fresh and salt water.
Sultan Reeds, which is an important bird paradise with rich vegetation, has suitable environment features for feeding, sheltering, accommodation and incubation of many kinds and types of birds.
Sultan Reeds, which is a category A natural habitat of Turkey, is one of the important wetlands protected by the International Ramsar Convention with this bird and living wealth.
As a result of the researches in the wide steppes of the Sultan reeds, along with the wetland ecosystem, 35 species from hymenoptera, 6 from odonata, 19 from mollusca, 3 from pisces, 3 from amphibia, 10 from reptilians, and 21 from mammalia were identified.
Mammals such as hedgehogs, marsh shrews, bats, wolves, foxes, weasels, marten, rabbits, moles, forest voles, high marmots, marmots, running rats, water voles, and common field voles also live. In addition, there are many frogs and salamander larvae and small fish in lakes and reeds, which have an important place in the nutrition of birds.
Although Aladağlar and Erciyes are the best researched areas in terms of flora in the Near and Middle East, research continues as the species identified are part of the known.
We can list the creatures found in the Sultan Reeds habitat as follows:
Algs: More than 50 species including Bacillariophyceae, Charophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Chrysophyceae, Dinophyceae, Eulenophyceae ile Rodophyceae.
The inhabitants of Ovaçiftliği Village on the shore of the lake collect reed and reed regularly under control and use them for wicker, basket and furniture making.
There are observation towers for use by museums, researchers, observers and photographers.
Local people live by agriculture and animal husbandry. Around 25 thousand cattle and 40 thousand sheep and goats are raised around Sultan Reeds.
Approximately 1500 tons of reeds is cut annually by the local people and most of it is exported abroad.
Sultan Reeds National Park and Tourism
One of the Ottoman Sultans, Murat the Fourth, set up his tent and stayed here on his way to the Revan Expedition. It is rumored that his name remained as Sultan Reeds because he served in the Sultan's Army.
Sultan Reeds, with its ecological value, vegetation and climate, attracts great attention by avitourism, bird watching, bird photography and scientific research.
Rare vegetation and reeds attract the attention of landscape photographers.
The number of visitors for tourism purposes has been increasing in recent years. Tours, photography, bird and wildlife observations are made in Sultan Reeds National Park.
Local hostels offer accommodation in the National Park, and a photo safari photography competition is held every year with boat tours for bird watching.